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Prepare yourself for success, Entrepreneur Mindset

After working for someone else for “x” amount of years in Hong Kong, you feel you have the experience and the knowledge to start your own business. Or maybe the entrepreneurial bug bit and now is as good a time as any to create a new venture. Whatever the reason, being a business owner is the goal. Being a tree service business owner can a rewarding and lucrative operation. It will take some planning, capital, and patience. Every business owner must invest in patience by the bucketsful.

Understanding Your Market

Like any business you have to know your market. Find out how many tree service businesses already operate in your “territory”. Their operating cost, overhead, number of employees, frequency of jobs, their price of services. Is there a need for your services? If the area is already flooded with tree service companies how will yours be different? How will you advertise and at what cost? What equipment do you have to buy, what can you do without, and can you even afford the equipment? Does your city or town require any type of licenses, insurance, or permits to operate a tree service business? Before starting try talking to other tree service business owners. Ask if you can sit down with them and discuss their business modules and to ask their advice on anything that’s puzzling you. This first hand experience is more valuable than anything you will read in the books and online. Gathered as much information as you can. Just like it’s better to be overdressed then underdressed, it’s better to be over prepared then under prepared.

Business Plan

Now that you are equipped with all this information, a business plan can be created. A business plan is a tool and aid to any business. It should contain a mission statement, cost of running the business and the formula or prices for your services. The projected growth that can be expected and how you will get there. A lot of new small businesses do not even consider to formulate a business plan but it’s a document worth having. That way you’ll have a plan and a vision of where you would like to grow. Where you see your tree service company in three, five, or ten years. This will also come in handy if you have to go down to the bank and borrow money. Or to bring in potential investors. Check out different business plan templates and models online. Or go to your local library. There are scores of books on running a business, creating a business, and developing a business plan. Check out your local Small Business Administration (SBA) they are there to help small business get started and off the ground. If after all this it’s still isn’t something you can do there are always companies and individuals that will do the research then write your business plan for you, for a small fee of course.

Now that you have done your research and formulated a business plan you will know what your next step is. If it’s funding or buying equipment, or whatever. That’s the value and blessing of a business plan not just for tree services enterprise but for any small or large business. If for some reason or another there’s a bump in the road or a detour then just change the plan. It should be something of fluidity, your plan should change as you change, as the economy change. Now it’s time to take that first step and start creating a niche for yourself in the wonderful world of tree services.